Questions For Cases

Introduction To Marketing & Sales

Carolinas Health Care System: Consumer Analytics

1. Why Has CHS invested in DA?

2. How successful has DA been so far? Why?
3. What are Dulin’s most important challenges going forward?
4. Which organizations are best-placed to provide integrated data management for individual
patients?

Coca Cola goes green: The launch of Coke Life

1. Why did TCCC make the decision to develop and launch Coke Life? What external and
internal factors led to that decisions?
2. How did TCCC position Coke Life? Which customer segment did Coke Life target?
3. What is Coke Life’s value proposition? How does Coke Life create value for its target
customers?
4. How was the launch executed?
5. What financial effects should TCCC expect from the launch? How do you evaluate the launch
of Coke Life from a financial and ethical perspective?

Forta Furniture: International Expansion

1. What key factors does Forta need to evaluate as it considers expanding internationally?
2. What are the benefits of expanding internationally ?
3. What are the reasons for and against waiting to launch in Western Europe?
4. What should Marita Petrescu do? Which brand is better suited for which market, and should
the entry be private label or branded?

Harlequin Romances –Poland (A)

1. What is Harlequin selling? How is the market segmented?

2. Evaluate Harlequin’s market position in North-America. What are the company’s strengths
and weaknesses?
3. Explain Harlequin’s success in Poland in its first year of operations
4. What challenges will Arlekin Poland face in 1993?
5. What should Kowalewska do now? What recommendations would you make for her 1993
Marketing Plan?
6. Should Arlekin try direct distribution in Poland?

Lay’s potato chips in Hungary ( A): Creating awareness and building brand image at
product launch
1. When did PepsiCo Sacks enter the Hungarian market? How did it enter this market?
 2. Give an overview of the Hungarian potato chips market? What are the key competitors and
what is the market dynamics in this market?
Lays’ Case A: Key Market Information

Competitors Lay’s Chio UB

Market share(%) 12 46 25
Product Quality High Intermediate High Packaging
Image of Quality Intermediate High
Price Intermediate Intermediate High
Advertising /Promotion
Type of Advertising Billboard TV and Radio- Jingle
Consumer Awareness Low Intermediate
Ad/Promo Ratio 44%/56% Mostly Advertising
Consumption Intention 18% 59%

3. How do you assess the consumer behavior in this market?

Some Basics about Consumer Behavior

a) Memory and choice: To be chosen, a product must be in short-term memory. This

can be achieved via heavy advertising by making it accessible in long-term memory (
frequent priming), or by bringing the brand into short-term memory just before
purchase ( recent priming or long-term memory). The case shows how a sales
promotion can serve as a recent prime.
b) Attribution and causal inferences. Sales promotions may trigger the inference that
they are being conducted because is of a poor quality. The case shows examples
that trigger both positive inferences (“ The brand did the promotion to introduce the
product”; “I bought the brand because I wanted to try it”) and negative ones (“They
did the promotions because they wanted to push sales”).
c) Categorization and positioning. Marketers need to align the perceptual and symbolic
signals of a brand onto the mental category that corresponds to the intended
positioning . Lay’s potato chips’ intended positioning was “best taste”, but some
signals communicated positive concepts other than taste ( eg., fun, excitement) ,
thereby undermining consumer categorization as “ High Quality”. In addition , the
price level communicated intermediate quality
d) Perception. Just noticeable differences (JND) in perceiving a product attribute are
not sufficient to create just noticeable differences in the corresponding attitude.
Even though lay’s potato chips were perceived as better in blind test tests than
those of the main competitor, their taste quality image was lower.
4. How was the situation of Lay’s Potato Chips in Hungary in the first quarter 1996?
5. What were the key issues ? And what was the decision of the company regarding Lay’s
Potato Chips?
6. What were the sales of potato chips by Brand, and pricing?
7. Do you think Lay’s succeeded in providing superior taste quality compared with Chio?
 8. Why advertising? Why Promotion?
9. What Lay’s could do instead of advertising?
10. How do you measure brand awareness?
11. What is the reasoning behind strategic goals?

Lays’ Potato Chips B1

1. What is MIB (The Money In The Bag) sales promotion?

2. Read now the following instructions:

Lay’s marketing budget for 1996 will be $1million, at par with Chio’s

1. Decide on a concrete ratio between media advertising and promotions.

Will you match

-Chio’s ratio?

-Increase either advertising or promotions?

3. Which specific advertising media will you use and what message will your advertising
convey?
4. Which promotional activities will you include?
5. Fill out the following table:

Adv/Promo Adv Media Adv Message Promotion

Split (X/Y %) ( One sentence)

6. Here are the main strategic goals

SG1. Sales promotion can be a tool to create brand awareness and brand image when share of
voice in advertising is low. This function becomes increasingly important in the context of mass
media clutter

SG2. Anticipating risks and opportunities of sales promotions. Sales promotions can run the risk
of undermining brand image , but with a proper understanding of the underlying psychology ,
they can be used to build image

SG3. Evaluating the success of sales promotions. The success of sales promotions should be
determined after the promotion has been withdrawn.

SG4. Aligning marketing mix elements. Even if a differentiating product attribute is competitively
superior , it needs to be explicitly communicated and supported by other marketing mix
elements that aligned with it.

7. Vote on expected success and explain for each strategic goal

-If MIB triggers low quality thoughts about the brand , do you predict a deterioration of brand
image?

-Who believe MIB will not undermine measured brand image? Of those, do you think , that the trial
strategy will work?

-In sum: Will MIB undermined brand image? Will trial improve brand image? Thus Thinking and
Persuasion are missing in the model

8. Why did quality image not improve? What signals did the Marketing Mix send? Taste Test
data. Add context to funnel, mention influence of brand on perception
9. Keeping MIB, how could have been the marketing mix been modified top signal high quality?
10. Would say , MIB was a success?

Lay’s potato chips in Hungary B2+C

1. Why do consumers buy Lay’s?

2. What next and why?
3. Why did sales decline post -MIB 2, but not post-MIB1?
4. Could you propose an alternative to MIB2?

McDonald’s : The Arch Deluxe Launch

1. What is McDonald’s doing?

2. Why has McDonald’s so successful?
3. Who goes to McDonald’s? When? Why?
4. Evaluate The Arch Deluxe launch?
5. What should McDonald’s do?

Ombre, Tie-Dye , Splat Hair,: Trends or fads? “Pull” and “Push” social media strategies at
L’Oreal Paris

1. The styles (ombre, tie-dye, or splat) that consumers were researching online: Which was
most promising for the development of a new product?
2. How to create and market the new product? Should it focus on the professional or
consumer-at-home market? How should the product be branded? How should it be priced?
3. The type of campaign: a traditional marketing campaign , a 100% social media campaign, or a
mix? If a mix , how they should be integrated?
4. Should different countries where the product is launched adopt distinct strategies? If so ,
how distinct?

Louis Vuitton in Japan

1. What has made Louis Vuitton’s business model successful in the Japanese luxury market?
2. What are the opportunities and challenges for Louis Vuitton in Japan?
 3. What are the specifics of the Japanese fashion luxury market?
4. How did Louis Vuitton enter into the Japanese market originally? What were the other entry
strategies it adopted later to strengthen its presence?
5. Will Louis Vuitton have any new challenges arise due to the global financial crisis? How does
it overcome the new challenges

Cases Study Presentations and Panels:

Group 1:

Case Study Presentation: Carolinas Health Care System: Consumer Analytics

Panel: Coca Cola goes green: The launch of Coke Life

Group 2:

Case Study Presentation: Coca Cola goes green: The launch of Coke Life

Panel: Carolinas Health Care System: Consumer Analytics

Group 3:

Case Study Presentation: Forta Furniture: International Expansion

Panel: Harlequin Romances –Poland (A)

Group 4:

Case Study Presentation: Harlequin Romances –Poland (A)

Panel: Forta Furniture: International Expansion

Group 5:

Case Study Presentation: Lay’s potato chips in Hungary ( A): Creating awareness and building brand
image at product launch

Panel: McDonald’s : The Arch Deluxe Launch

Group 6:

Case Study Presentation: McDonald’s : The Arch Deluxe Launch

Panel: Lay’s potato chips in Hungary ( A): Creating awareness and building brand image at product
launch

Group 7:

Case Study Presentation: Lay’s potato chips in Hungary B1

Panel: Ombre, Tie-Dye , Splat Hair,: Trends or fads? “Pull” and “Push” social media strategies at
L’Oreal Paris

Group 8:

Case Study Presentation: Ombre, Tie-Dye , Splat Hair,: Trends or fads? “Pull” and “Push” social media
strategies at L’Oreal Paris

Case Study Presentation: Lay’s potato chips in Hungary B1

Group 9:

Case Study Presentation: Lay’s potato chips in Hungary B2+C

Panel: Louis Vuitton in Japan

Group 10:

Case Study Presentation: Louis Vuitton in Japan

Panel: Lay’s potato chips in Hungary B2+C

How to Analyze a Case

To analyze your case, first read your case carefully, then use the following framework to analyze
it. When this part is completed , please answer the question corresponding to your case

Framework

1. What are the facts in the case study?

2. What are the issues in the case study?
3. Structure the facts around the issues
4. Propose 3 possible alternatives to the firm in the case
5. For each possible alternative say what are the pros and the cons ( advantages and
disadvantages)
6. Propose criteria for the selection of the best alternative
7. What is the best alternative and why?
8. Should the firm implement this best alternative in the firm , what type of problems may
arise?
9. Recommendations